“Ok. Closing night bets. You’re gonna replace the poison with this.” Siyeon grins, holding up a metal water bottle of something that Kyungwon can assume isn’t water.

Sungyeon reaches for it, then hesitates. “What is it?”

Siyeon jiggles the bottle a little, and the sound it makes is most certainly not a watery one. “It’s a mix of Oreos, Orangina, and a little vodka. I made it myself.” Siyeon wiggles her eyebrows. Kyungwon tries not to gag.

Sungyeon takes the bottle. “You’re on.”

“Hold up.” Kyungwon cuts in. This is too much. “I’ve gotta drink that.”

Siyeon tilts her head. “True. This bet really is closer to your thing. Too bad. I had a good one for you.” Siyeon turns to Sungyeon. “This means you need a new one. You’re Friar Lawrence too now that Kim’s out sick, right?”

Sungyeon nods. “Yep. Three roles. This stomach bug really messed up casting. I mean, last night and we’ve got a gay play. Mrs. Park is beside herself.”

“It’s true.” Kyungwon says, “I was only understudy because Mrs. Park was sure that I wouldn’t be needed and I’m her favorite bio student.”

Siyeon hums and taps her chin. “While I figure out what I want you to do,” She points as Sungyeon, “I want you, Kyungwon, replacement Romeo, to slip your Juliet some tongue.”

Kyungwon chokes on her own spit. “You want me to what?”

“I want you to french kiss Yewon.”

“What happens if I refuse?” Kyungwon runs through ways that she could escape the bet.

“Simple, you drink the full bottle of this. On film. Tonight.” Siyeon grins, shaking her bottle of doom again. “And you’re gonna be downing a vial of it onstage in a fit of overwhelming sadness. So I’ll be checking for that tongue in Act 1.”

Kyungwon glances at the bottle and gulps. Puking on stage during her last high school play was not a pleasant prospect. Kissing Yewon, however, was, well, not bad. At least, it was not bad when she pictured it. “Fine”

Siyeon thumps her on the back, hard. “Atta girl.” She turns to Sungyeon. “Got one for you.”

Sungyeon smiles back, a glint in her eyes. “Hit me.”

---

Kyungwon goes through the dance on autopilot. She’s practiced it enough as an extra that she knows the moves, but this time, instead of continuing the dance, she’ll be kissing Yewon, the cute junior that smiled at Kyungwon once. Well, now more than once. Kyungwon tries not to let her disbelief show. She can almost hear Siyeon’s snickering from the light booth. How did she get into this again? Oh right, she had heard that Yewon was a theater kid and decided that the way to get to know her was to be in the play too. Kyungwon has no idea what inspired her to try out for Romeo, and now she wants to hit herself for it.

Patience perforce with willful choler meeting

Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting.

I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall

Now seeming sweet, convert to bitterest gall.

The dancing stops and Kyungwon comes face to face with Yewon, whose eyes are sparkling like, wow. Kyungwon can’t quite make words work. But now she has to. Line. Line. . Yewon blinks at her, tilting her head subtly in confusion, her smile never slipping off her face. She’s a pro, Kyungwon thinks. Meanwhile, Kyungwon can't even rememb-oh right. “If I profane with my unworthiest hand…” Kyungwon can flirt. She may not be able to do much else, but, she figures, flirting wasn't so different in Shakespeare's time. And besides, she absolutely cannot let Siyeon win. There’s no way she’s drinking that damn concoction.

Kyungwon is shaken out of autopilot when she hears Yewon say “Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake.”

Kyungwon takes a breath and schools her features into a teasing expression to match Yewon’s. “Then move not, while my prayer’s effect I take.” 

This kiss is chaste. It has to be. There’s no way in hell that Kyungwon could continue looking at Yewon like this if she french kissed her. A simple, three-second press of lips. And, oh. Yewon obviously takes care of herself because, wow, her lips are soft. If Kyungwon was offstage, she’d probably say something embarrassing like “your lips are like velvet” or “you’ve got great chapstick game.” As it is, Kyungwon just barely manages to slip out a “thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged.”

Kyungwon’s ears are buzzing. She can’t believe she’s about to do this. For a fraction of a